bill: they lowered their growth forecast and doesn't expect unemployment to fall below 8% until the end of this year. doesn't sound promising. >> reporter: you're absolutely right about that. they do all the accommodative measures. foreclosures at record lows. they think maybe sort of like planting a seed and letting it water and waiting for it to sprout. the real fact of the matter is it is universally acknowledged that the fed will come through before this summer is over with some sort of stimulus to help out. no one knows what that is and wall street was disappointed. bill: you wonder with what is in the tool box at this point. jobs number seems a decent number under the surface. is it? >> you're right. there are a lot of adjustments. 350,000 americans filing for first-time unemployment claims is disheartening number. seems decent compared to estimates and recent trends where we were lurching back

to the 400,000 mark which is really mind-boggling. this might have benefited from fewer than anticipated automobile plant shutdowns and also july 4th holiday. remains to be seen if this is outlyer. that is why it hasn't had much of an impact on the market yet. bill: thank you, charles payne. see you on fb. in this week. you have the big job for varney. >> reporter: doing the heavy lifting. bill: here is martha. martha: let's look at the filings we've seen over the last six months because as charles was just pointing out it is the trend line you want to watch overall. most weeks are revised up after the initial report comes out including that last report which went up 2000. the biggest weekly revision we've seen was back in the month of march. moving that report up by 16,000. you can see that on march the 22nd. when you look at numbers since march of 2011, we've seen upward revisions on all of these weekly jobless claims 70 out of the 71

weeks. so we want to keep an eye on that overall trend line. 350,000 is a good number. it is a number you want to be at but we have to watch next month or so if it is putting a floor to the new jobless claims. bill: you make a good point too, about the revision, martha. a new fallout from a fight on the senate floor about your money. republicans blocking a vote on president obama's proposal louing tax cuts for americans earning $250,000 a year. it got heated. in just moments we will be joined by republican senator john thune who is in the thick of it, a member of the senate finance committee. that is just minces away right here. serious concerns what could be a massive spike in home foreclosures. new data today shows banks are increasingly putting unpaid mortgages on a countdown clock. that may generate a tidal wave of foreclosures next year. the report from the service, realtytrac, saying the number of homes entering the

foreclosure process in june jumped for the second month in a row. banks tackle a backlog of unpaid mortgages. martha: meanwhile it is getting cheaper to borrow money to buy a home if you could get a bank to lend you money. that is the catch. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages dropped to 3.39% according to the zillow. that is the lowest rate ever since sill loy -- zillow began following the data back in 2008. senate democrats want to move quickly on the president's plan to raise taxes on america's high wage earners while keeping bush tax cuts for those making $250,000 a year but republicans are saying not so fast on this measure. they're saying it is not just their side of the aisle that is opposed to the tax hike for the upper end. molly henneberg joins me live from out sighted white house. molly, the white house says there will be overwhelming democratic support in congress for the president's

tax plan. is that what we're seeing out there? >> reporter: hi, martha. there hasn't been a vote yet in part because senate democrats may not all be in line with the president's way of thinking extending tax cuts for some and increasing taxes for others. but the white house says president obama will be pushing for his plan more publicly in the days to come. >> what we have seen republican opposition to the president's position has at least in some cases, waned as the president made that public case because there is great public support for the president's positions. i can't predict to you how individuals will vote but i know that democrats, to a person, support extending middle class tax cuts. >> reporter: but some are having trouble with increasing taxes on families who make over $250,000 a year. for example, democrat tick senator jon tester and joe manchin of west virgina are hedging whether or not they will support the president's plan.

both are in tight re-election races. senator joe lieber man that caucuses with the democrats and retiring he does not support the position of either democrats or republicans on the tax cuts. he wants congress to work more on a deficit reduction package. martha: independent on that issue. molly, talk to me a little what the republicans are proposing. >> reporter: they want to extend bush-era tax cuts for everyone including top wage earners who republicans say are some of the business owners who do the hiring. >> in the face of 41 straight months of unemployment above 8%, the president is begging congress to let him raise taxes on the very businesses the american people are counting on to create jobs. it was the exact opposite of course of what is needed. for some reason he thinks a tax hike is his ticket to

re-election. >> reporter: senate democratic majority leader harry reid promised there will be a vote on the president's plan before congress recesses for august. we'll have to see, martha. martha: molly, thanks very much. bill: got severe weather strong enough to make headlines. heavy rains causing major flooding, downpours in san antonio and you do not want to be the person who owns that car. forcing police to make more than 20 high water rescues. in one case a driver had to swim to safety as floodwaters overwhelmed here vehicle. three inches of rain falling cause water levels to rise a foot in some places. that is flash flooding in san antonio. martha: severe weather strong enough to make headlines in asheville, north carolina where roted look more like rivers. power knocked out for thousands of people. flash floods overwhelmed sewer lines and bases there.

bill: lightning in the skies of arizona. a storm formed over the desert but got close enough to sky harbor airport for the national weather service to issue a warning. that will get your attention, right? whether it is dark outside. phoenix, arizona right there. martha: we have new details and eyewitness testimony from the terrifying train explosion in the heartland. [explosion] >> [bleep]. come on. go. martha: what a scene. fresh clues what may have caused that. bill: that is remarkable. several cities across the country facing bankruptcy. now an entire state is at risk of going belly-up. the lieutenant governor of that state is here live to explain what is happening. martha: tax fight on capitol hill. democrats maneuvering to set up a vote on ending the bush-era tax cuts for high-income earners. republican senator john thune has something to tell us about that this morning.

he's here. >> no one is fooled by the republican's amendment. we've seen it for what it is, more republican obstruction that comes with the added bonus of stick iting it to the middle class are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

martha: we have some new information on that train derailment that caused a huge explosion sending a huge fireball into the sky. look at this video. >> [bleep]. [bleep]. come on. go! [bleep]. [bleep]. [bleep]. martha: unbelievable. so three tank cars on that train, each carrying 30,000 gallons ever ethanol caught fire in that crash and federal investigators are now working to determine exactly what caused the explosion and the derailment. unbelievable scenes.

>> [bleep]. >> they were dynamically breaking -- braking coming into the curve. they were approximately the speed limit coming into the curve. shortly after entering the curve, they got undesirable braking. which means that the air supply broke. >> there was just a huge fireball that occurred. >> the heat was so excruciating that i had to cover, i had to ball up to cover my body because, almost like my skin was burning. martha: so fortunately nobody on that train was seriously injured. we're told the tankers are still burning. you they need to cool down before the crews can remove the remaining ethanol that keeps the fire going. >> get an agreement sooner. the president planned to give 90% of americans certainly their tax won't go up, the republican plan to raise taxes on 25 million american families.

democrats are ready to have those votes right away. and we'll do it with simple majority. then we can get back to the task at hand, cutting taxes for millions of small businesses that want to expand and put americans back to work. bill: that is how part of the debate played out on the senate floor with majority leader harry reid to asking a republicans straight up-or-down vote on extending bush tax rates on but on higher wages. my next guest says that is bad idea. john thune is sits on the tax writing committee in the senate. senator, good morning to you and welcome back to our program. >> good morning, bill. bill: up and down vote. simple majority rules? what do you think of idea? >> we would love to have the vote to president's plan to raise taxes on small businesses on the company but we like to see the text of the bill first. they haven't put anything into legislative language,

bill. we haven't seen anything they want to vote on. we would like a procedure where republicans can offer amendments. what senator reid has done, in legislative terms, filled amendment tree, essentially offered republicans offering amendments and hasn't given us anything to look at. we're happy to have this debate. we welcome the opportunity to debate whether or not we ought to raise taxes on a million small businesses at a time when we're trying to get americans back too work and get the economy going and expanding again. bill: on that note you called the president's push on this whole matter reckless. how come? >> well it is because the president said two years ago when we, when we had over 3% economic growth that raising taxes on small businesses would be a blow to the economy. now we've got even slower growth. this year we're seeing 2% economic growth. we've had 41 consecutive months much unemployment above 8%. 23 million americans unemployed or underemployed. the weakest economic recovery literally since the end of world war ii.

the president is talking about raising taxes on small businesses when two years ago when growth was at slower level he thought that would be a blow to the economy. only thing that changed this is political year. he thinks this is good politics. frankly we think this is the wrong thing to do not only for the economy but wrong thing to do politically as well. we're happy to debate it. bill: on that point is this something that will be settled before november? does congress have the where with all to do this? or is this something just a campaign issue for the next 115 days and you tackle it after the election? >> it should be settled before november because we need to provide people who create jobs certainty. we welcome to extend tax rates for a year. the house will have a vote sometime in next couple weeks on that very issue. we hope to get a vote in the united states senate. but the problem you have right now this is all political exercise in the senate. in fact, it is such a charade the senate doesn't even under the constitution

originate revenue measures, the house does. if we were to do something in the senate it would be blue slipped in the house any way. what senator reid is trying to do create a political issue to rally his base during an election year. it is wrong thing for the economy. we'll do everything we can for the economy. we would like tax rates extended for all americans next year and particularly for the small businesses where we're looking to create jobs and get economy back on his feet. bill: as it stands how many senate democrats do you believe would vote with you on the extension? >> senator lieberman came out and expressed his reservations raising taxes on small businesses. we would think senator tester in montana, senator mccaskill in missouri, places where you you have tough political campaigns and people understand it is small businesses that create the jobs, we shouldn't raise taxes during a time when we're trying to get the economy growing again. those might be democrats who would be available to us. i hope we get a handful of

democrats would be four extending rates for another year. bill: would that be three or four or possibly more? >> i've been around here long enough to know when they start putting pressure on probably unlikely it is more than three or four. you would think there would be a dozen available for an issue like this that is so important to our economy and to economic growth. bill: we'll watch for further debate today. we'll see whether or not it moves. john thune, thank you for your time, senator. >> good to be with you. bill: 19 minutes past the hour. martha? martha: this is big news this morning. the first formal step by lawmakers has now been taken to probe what has been called very serious intelligence leaks as they try to figure out how far up those leaks went, possibly even to the white house. ambassador john bolton joins us on that straight ahead. bill: big money issues for a coal town. all city salaries cut to minimum wage including firefighters. one of those men seeing his paycheck slashed. we'll give his side to the debate from the mayor, listen.

>> he became mayor 11 years ago we had 500 employees. today we have 400. we're trying to reduce costs but it is very difficult in this environment where federal government has no money, state has no money. cities, we're hard government. we have to pick up the garbage. our police and fire trucks are on the streets every day. on social security... ...but washington isn't talking to the american people. [ female announcer ] when it comes to the future of medicare and social security, you've earned the right to know. ♪ ...so what does it mean for you and your family? [ female announcer ] you've earned the facts. ♪ washington may not like straight talk, but i do. [ female announcer ] and you've earned a say. get the facts and make your voice heard on medicare and social security at earnedasay.org.

bill: we are at 23 minutes past the hour now. the fbi and the justice department are reviewing thousands of convictions based on analysis of hair samples. this comes after judges overturned the sentences of two men wrongly convicted using hair as evidence. detectives looking for a cause of a tragic july 4th yacht accident in new york. they have lifted the boat back to the surface hoping to get a closer look to offer new clues in the accident that killed three children.

starbucks finding an unlikely location for its newest store, a south carolina funeral home. cheerio. the funeral director defending the move that coffee played a part in his family's business for generations. martha: really? that seems a little odd, doesn't it? bill: what song is that? martha: why we just played it in the break. bill: there is a joke in there somewhere right there with the wake up caffeine. martha: yeah. wake up. wait wake up everybody at the funeral home i guess. back to politics now, folks, governor mitt romney calling for better education at the naacp convention that he spoke at in houston. >> today black children are 17% of students nationwide but they are 42% of the students in our worst-performing schools. candidates can't have it both ways. talking up education reform

while indulging in the same groups that are blocking reform. martha: casey stiegel is live in houston at the naacp conference. casey, where do folks stand there on education reform and this issue? >> reporter: well, martha, they're really talking about leveling the playing field here. good morning to you. really we're talking about k-12 public education. we need to point that out. as you know higher ed and colleges a different ball of wax. president obama would like to, in number of things, expand title 1 funding to disadvantage school systems, areas with large numbers of students from low-income families and minority leaders say that cash should be used to turn underperforming schools around instead of driving kids away. >> we get in these minority students out of this bad school, putting them over here where we're giving them an education.

so you get 10 out and put them over here and you leave 100 in the same condition. don't move them. fix it. >> reporter: this is really something that resonates with african-american voters when you consider that 37% of black students in this country come from homes living below the poverty level. and vice president joe biden is set to address the crowds here at the nape convention in just about an hour. martha, we expect education to be hit on since romney talked about it yesterday as well. martha: it is a huge issue and there are a couple of different approaches to this and some people feel that throwing more money at the problem has not historically a solution and charter schools have been very successful. to mitt romney's approach to all of this which he hit on yesterday. >> reporter: it is interesting. romney essentially would like to completely overhaul the system and take the

federal funds, including title one monies and basically give it to parents and let them choose what type of school they want to send their kids to, be it a public school, private, parochial or a charter school. and some parents we spoke with at a charter school in texas yesterday tell us having that say is really invaluable. >> breaking the cycle was important because then you realize, you have a choice. you have options. you're able to go to a better school, provide a better education for yourself and for your future generation. >> reporter: in fact that woman told me she came from a low income neighborhood and if her parents didn't have options for her siblings, then they would have never probably attended college. they are now all college grads, martha. martha: a lot of success stories like that. casey, thank you very much. >> reporter: yeah. martha: casey stiegel in houston. bill: governor romney, we listened yesterday on this program delivering a bold

message to the naacp saying he is the right man to help the african-american community in america. is that the right message? fair and balanced debate on his message there today. martha: plus a governor of a cash-strapped state is sick and tired of lose. his plan to cut taxes and outcompete his neighbors and that is helping his state in a big way. >> people are going bankrupt. companies are going bankrupt. this is the economy. this is what the big problem is. look, any kind of expenditure they have right now, it is a challenge. we don't have money but reality the big problem here we need to jump-start the economy. we can't be at 8.2% unemployment. this is $100,000.

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martha: two states are now tackling their economic problems in two very different ways. maryland decided to raise taxes on high income earn erstwhile kansas has taken the opposite approach. kansas eliminating a budget surplus for 2013. the governor decided to lower income tax rates for everybody across the board. making it the state with the fourth lowest income tax state in the nation. we're joined by the lieutenant governor. good to have you here this morning. >> good morning, martha. martha: you have two schools of thoughts at play when you look at maryland and kansas. that is very similar to the national debate that is going on right now. the president wants to increase taxes on high wage

earners in this country and mr. romney, governor romney says that is not the way he would go. tell us, a little bit about your success story in kansas and why you think lowering taxes has been the key to your success. >> when governor brown back and i came into office 18 months ago we had a $500 million deficit. we had been losing jobs over the last decade, actually losing population to other states. we just couldn't do that. we were the highest taxed state in many states around us. so we just couldn't do that anymore. we were losing private sector jobs. what we've done, we made an approach, let's work with business and small businesses. so we're cutting taxes on all small businesses. if you're an llc or a subchapter s, you come to kansas, zero income tax. we're buildings jobs here. we cut taxes across the board for all income levels. instead after 3.5% income

tax rate for poorest kansans we cut it down to 3. we're cutting tax rates for everyone. martha: you swing it over to maryland, governor o'malley claims his route to stability for his state will be completely different. he does not want to see any services cut. he feels their education system is a draw for people to maryland. he wants to preserve the spending levels in that area. in order to do that, he has raised taxes, right? >> well, that's what i understand maryland's doing but we're focusing on how we can fix things for us. let me give you an example. we're just trying to focus on the core services of government. so for example, we added $40 million to public schools here in the state of kansas. we're concerned about kids educations and we're focusing on getting the best outcomes for kids. we're making sure we have great roads. we're even reforming our medicaid programs so it will help save money and get better outcomes. martha: basically how do you

cut taxes? how have you been able to cut taxes and preserve things like funding for your schools? how did you do it? >> yeah, how we did it when we came into office we had a $500 million deficit. we've cut that. we have now a $500 million surplus. we do it by basic blocking and tackling. can you give you an example about medicaid for example? martha: yes. >> in medicaid our problem was in disarray scattered across four different cabinet agencies growing from 1.2 billion to 3 billion in couple of years. what we have done we signed a deal where we make sure everybody keeps their doctor and that pay rates don't go down and that also we're going to make sure everyone is covered and still has access. and guess what? we're actually going to save a billion dollars and we're going to have additional coverage for people. martha: and so the main reason that you're, you found efficiencies in your medicare it sounds like. also sound like you detect ad lot of overlap because you had four different

agencies. you eliminate ad lot of bureaucracy and streamlined the way medicare functions and ended up saving a lot of money, sound like? >> absolutely. you have to just do this better. we focused on health outcomes. we're doing same thing in schools and roads. we want to make sure we have a gait place for you to have a family. make sure you have a good places for schools. your health care is taken care of, the roads are great. we're right in the middle of the united states. we have google fiber building the fastest fiber-optic network in the united states here. martha: fascinating story. governor, thanks for coming on. good luck to you. >> yeah. everybody come to kansas. martha: you're not in kansas anymore. we're not in kansas anymore but you are. thank you very much, lieutenant governor. bill: got some breaking news now on the penn state scandal. we're now just getting a first look at the internal report from the school and what the head coach knew about the scandal. david lee miller watched the

story from the beginning. he is live in new york city with a look at this right now. david lee, what is it? >> reporter: bill, it is an enormous report. take a look at the size of it. it is hundreds and hundreds of pages. the report's authors say they examined more than 3 1/2 million e-mails. they interviewed more than 400 people. at the end of the day this is a, very damning report for penn state and specifically coach joe paterno. the report cites paterno specifically and it says that he influenced others at the school not to report an incident of alleged abuse. i'm going to read from the report now or the preamble to the report. let's bring up a full screen graphic. it says, and i quote, our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disorder regard for the safety and welfare of sandusky's child victims by most senior leaders at enpenn state. most powerful men at penn state failed to take steps for 14 years to protect the

children that mr. sandusky victimized. mr. span know, curly and pa schultz, including school president never demonstrated concern for sandusky's victims until after sandusky's arrest. the report sfwos on to specifically mention an incident where number of janitors observed mr. sandusky in showers with a young boy. the incident was never reported to the tos. the janitors were simply afraid of coming forward. the report also says that everyone at the school has a duty to blow the whistle when they see any illegal activity. now the school has issued a response to the report. clearly they could not have read this report since it was only released at 9:00, a few minutes ago, about 40 minutes ago. the report as i said is hundreds and hundreds of pages long. but the school's response so far, which have another full screen graphic. i will read you the school's response. quote, we want to assure

we're giving the report careful scrutiny and consideration before making any announcements of recommendations. we're putting together a team comprising board of trustees, administration and our legal counsel to analyze the report and digesting judge free's findings. at end, no one unscathed. joe paterno, form athletic director, former president of finance and board of trustees as well. the said the board was not even prepared for the firing of jo-pa earn it know. bill: the report says concealing critical facts seems to be the key phrase or the headline. has there been a response from the paterno family yet, david lee? >> reporter: this morning one of jo-pa earn know's sons spoke on television says the family only wants the truth to come out. he made those remarks. just the other day a letter released written by joe

paterno shortly before his death. it was sent to members of the penn state community. it has now been made public. he said this. bring another full screen graphic. i quote again. this is joe paterno writing. this is not a football scandal and should not be treated as one. it is not a academic scandal and does in any way tarnish the hard-earned well-deserved act dim mick reputation of penn state. penn state officials suggest otherwise is disservice to over 500,000 living alumni. this report very critical of joe paterno. minces no words. essentially saying if joe 6 pa attorney know and others had come forward in 2001, many of the young victims who were abused might never had to incur such a difficult, very difficult fate. bill: quite revealing. david lee miller thank you. breaking news from new york. by the way sandusky, he has been convicted on 45 criminal counts. he is awaiting sentencing at

a jail cell in pennsylvania. martha: one very important takeaway from all of this. and that is, that anyone who was aware of anything like this at their school or in any organization that they're in does a huge disservice to these victims and needs to come forward. so this has been a total tragedy for all involved but that is the lesson that needs to be taken away because it happens aall across this country and people need to speak out. bill: about 19 minutes before the hour. check of the markets, huh? martha: we'll take a look what is going on wall street right now. you have investors reacting to a brand new jobs report showing weekly unemployment claims dropping to a four-year low. market sort of shrugging it off down 84 points. the rosy report is likely the result of temporary factors is the take we heard from charles payne who weighed in on it moments ago. we'll see how the market likes the rest of the activity throughout the day. bill: a congressional investigation is getting

hotter over intelligence leaks from the white house. allegations that attorney general eric holder turned his back on the matter. ambassador john bolton talks about that. martha: how a something falling from the sky barely missed a baseball player walking off the field. >> walking toward the bench i see something just fly right in front of me, about two or three feet. i go down and grab it. i'm like, like 90 something degrees. it's simple physics... a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis sympto. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies, celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function

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congressman john conyers to launch a congressional investigation. i think there are basically two avenues they can pursue. number one, try to find out who the leakers are themselves or number two, bird dog the justice department investigation, the criminal investigation, to make sure it stays on track. so, which way they go i think will depend in part obviously on how the administration responds. bill: now it is my understanding though you're in the situation room. there is only a couple people in there. and only they would be, only they would gain access to this exclusive information. that has to be a handful of folks, right? how many? >> well, it is very easy to talk to the people who were actually there. whether they were the leakers or not obviously is the $64 question. and it could well be that lamar smith has in mind doing precisely that. that will raise interesting questions of executive privilege. we've seen that in the "fast and furious" investigation but i think the white house will be very worried about having its top national

security council lors being called up on the hill. so that could lead a quick clash between the committee and the white house. bill: now, the suggestion in your answer that may not be a particular individual who is in the situation room at the time but perhaps they talked to somebody on their staff and they went to talk to reporters, is that right? >> that's why leak investigations from the criminal perspective are so hard but i think when you put political figures before congress and make them take the oath and face perjury penalties it may actually be quicker and more effective at finding out where those leaks came from than pursuing it through the much-slower criminal justice channels. bill: why is it not satisfactory for what eric holder has -- he appointed two attorneys, right, to look into this? >> right. well i actually take the view that if you're going to have a criminal investigation, this is the way to do it. i think what the congressional committees can do, is call those u.s. attorneys up to the hill and they won't talk about the investigation itself. i say that as a justice

department alumnus, because it is an open file but what the committee can do is make it very clear to those two u.s. attorneys that their personal and professional reputations for integrity and competence are on the line if they expect those investigations will be pursued vigorously. bill: for you, would be you satisfied from that from the department of justice or would you want more? >> no, i would be satisfied with that if they pursued the facts wherever they were to take them. i am not a fan of independent counsels. that is the one the of the worst ideas they ever come up it. they're subject to abuse, whether lawrence walsh on iran-contra, the valerie plame investigation. i would rather stay with established department of justice panels when you talk about the criminal side. bill: to understand how critical these leaks are, there was the colonel in the u.s. military quoted as saying that the intelligence leaks on iran's nuclear program, to the newspaper, is the equivalent of having a kgb agent in the

white house. that is strong. >> yeah. i think it is even worse than that in the sense all of this is public. at least the kgb would keep it to itself and only would be russia we have to worry about. now the whole world has heard some of these leaks and there is just no doubt in my mind, based on my experience in several administrations, these leshgs were a concerted, planned effort by the administration to tout their successes. i understand the political motivation but they went way, way over the line. that is what i hope, either through the justice department or the congressional route that we can find out because subsequent administrations have got to avoid this kind of behavior. bill: john bolton, thank you for your time. >> thank you. bill: mr. ambassador in washington. here's martha. martha: there was some mixed reaction to governor romney at the naacp convention in houston, getting some boos after his message on president obama's economic policies but he also getting some credit for speaking his truth to a crowd that was unlikely to agree with him.

we're going to debate that. bill: also a town on the economic ropes in a big way. and workers and firefighters and the police about to go bust. a blue-collar town making a major cut to city workers pay all to stay in business and firefighters feeling the pain, now in their wallet and not happy about it. we'll talk to one live. our firemen, our police, dpw workers, clerical workers all of them do an outstanding job. unfortunate city council passed a budget based on borrowing and is unwilling to fund it. stay in the moment sanya

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bill: so meet a baseball player who caught something, out of this world. the new jersey man says he was walking off the field when what he thinks is a meteorite fell in front of him.

it was cold when he picked it up and used a magnet to conduct his own test. he says nasa is calling and they want to take a look at it. take a listen. >> they were all excited. they contacted me. they want to get a sample of the rock see where origin is from, a asteroid belt or how old might be. very interesting. it was weird. i'm glad it didn't hit me. bill: yeah. more than a foul ball, isn't it? the ballplayer is not sure what to do with it. friends are urging him to put it on ebay. martha: come on, hold onto it. that he will get another one those is unlikely. this important story now. there is a huge new effort underway to help our nation's heroes find work in these very tough economic times. a coalition of more than 50 companies has banded together with a commitment to hire military veterans. the latest numbers put the country's overall unemployment at 8.2% but the rate for veterans of the

recent wars in iraq and afghanistan is much higher. 9.5%. that is something i think we can all get around, a good idea to help them out. doug mckelway is live in chicago. so doug, whose idea was this to focus on hiring vets and helping them out? >> reporter: you know, martha, this was largely the inspiration of jpmorgan chase which has long realized the value of hiring veterans. at the very basic level, they realize when you hire a vet you hire somebody that knows how to show up for work on time. beyond that you're hiring somebody who has learned leership skills. they have learned communication skills. they have learned how to work within the chain of command. and you saw all the people, all the vets out there who are waiting for this job fair. there are 1300 of them who registered and lined up for jobs here. we're moving inside the auditorium right here where the various employers and perspective employers camped out. you see, a lot of corporations here, who have the same philosophy as

jpmorgan. i see, a lot of pharmaceutical companies. abbott right here. i see also kraft foods. i see wal-mart, jpmorgan chase. all of these companies realize that veterans are great employees and they're all well on their way of their goal of hiring something like 100,000 veterans for jobs by the year 2020. martha: because there are jobs out there as evidenced by the tables you're walking around because they're looking for good people but one of the issues often when people come back from the battlefield is how to get skills they need, right, doug? >> reporter: that's right because it is a difficult transition for a lot of vets before they come to the private sector. but before we get to that i want to play you a sound bite from one of the representatives from jpmorgan here. okay, apparently we don't have that. in any event they want people to drop the yes, sir, knows lingo no, sir, lingo

and talk about the ememployment level. martha: nothing wrong with a little yes, sir, no, sir for a while. doug mckelway. thank you, sir. bill: there was a desperate rescue effort underway after a deadly summit avalanche. the latest on the search for possible survivors. martha: historic bankruptcy filings, what is going on in california? we'll be back. [ male announcer ] what's in your energy drink? ♪ wer surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8.

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martha: the effort to repeal the healthcare law moves forward today, the house passing that repeal by nearly 60 votes. they had five democrats who broke ranks and voted with the republicans, saying they wanted to turn over the healthcare law as well. the senate now is being pushed up to take up that law as well. we'll see if they actually do now. a brand-new hour starting right now here in "america's newsroom." glad to have you with us on a thursday. i'm marth martha maccallum.

bill: i'm bill hemmer. republicans will continue working toward a repeal because they say that is what americans favor. >> this is up to the american people through their elected representatives to repeal and repolice this law. and what we are demonstrating today is that the house of representatives is here and ready to do now. the question now is the united states senate and the president. obviously they are not going to do that. martha: peter doocy is live on this story. are they going to wait until november to pursue this again. >> reporter: they clearly don't want to wait. yesterday was the 33 time the g.o.p. house has held a vote to defund or repeal the law. john boehner called out all the senators who have sat still while his house has voted nearly three dozen times to repeal obamacare. >> for those who support

repealing this harmful healthcare law we are giving our colleagues in the senate a chance to heed the will of the american people. for those who didn't vote to repeal last time it's a chance for our colleagues to reconsider. >> reporter: a chart is being passed around by some republicans. it shows a new estimate for the cost of the healthcare law's first real decade as being about three times higher than president obama's original estimate. but even if the repeal measure got through the senate president obama has vowed to repeal any -- rather, vowed to veto any repeal measure. martha: that is quite a chart. if the president already has threatened a veto, which you say he has, what do they want congress to do. >> reporter: they want congress to move on. jay carney said the entire repeal process is basically pointless. >> casting these votes again,

and again, and again, probably on afternoon once every few weeks does nothing to improve the bottom line fo for middle last families. does not to send the average 18-year-old to college. does nothing to help build new industries in this country. >> reporter: in a brand-new quinnipiac university poll out today a majority of americans agree that the affordable care act is a tax hike, 55% of them. but sending a slightly mixed message the same poll shows that 48% agree with the supreme court's decision to uphold the law, but about the same number, 49% think that congress should repeal it, martha. martha: a lot of mixed messages in that. thank you very much, peter doocy nbc. bill: you remember the supreme court ruled on the law two weeks agent same day that the house republican leadership announced

a repeal vote. this is the second attempt to repeal. the law will kick in september 23rd when open enrollment begins for all americans. the chairman of the oversight committee is darrell issa. he voted for the repeal. we'll get his per diction for the bill's future later on this hour. martha: we know what caused a deadly wildfire in utah. investigators say the wood hollow fire was sparked when power lines swung too close to each other and that sent a surge to the ground that ignited the dry grass denight. some victims are considering during the electric company because of all this. in california a fast-moving wildfire threatening homes, mandatory evacuations have been owed for more than 200 people there. >> i'm terrified, absolutely terrified. i want to stay. if my house goes i have nothing to live for. my everything is in my home, it's me, my cat and my house,

that's it. >> i'm just worried about the house, you know, so we got everybody out so that's what matters. martha: lightning sparking new fires in idaho, montana and colorado. no rest for the weary. bill: and we have more now on america on the verge of bankruptcy. new concerns a growing number of cities across the country on the verge of going broke after three cities in california filed for bang superintendent see in one month's time. liz is here. good morning to you. san bernardino is the next one on the list. >> reporter: that's right, bill, $45 million budget deficit, this is a city that only has $150,000 in the bank. like many sits in california this city raided development funds, raided funds for things like emergencies and earthquakes and now it's moving to possibly desolve parts of his fire and police department. government workers are in an uproar, they say look we've

already taken 10 million tkhr-rz a year idollars a year in concessions and cut the workforce by 20%. san bernardino raised its pension costs for government workers in 2008 when the financial crisis blew in. that's part of the reason why they are in trouble. in the muni bond market, the cost of borrowing are going up, that is a concern for the state of california. borrowing cost are a full percentage point above what the average is. now it's 6.6% where the average for most states is about 5.6%. the other issues that cities in california have to deal with in considering bankruptcy is they have to look towards vallejo that filed bankruptcy several years ago. they are now paying $10 million to bankruptcy lawyers, bill. its not such a great thing to file chapter 9 for cities. you can be locked out of the bond market and pay legal fees.

these cities are saying try to do arbitration or work it out with government workers. bill: stockton was the first one to drop two weeks ago. do all these cities have the same problems? >> reporter: it seems that way. they say the housing collapse, the thing is there's less tax revenue. with this city, san bernardino, 65 miles east of l.a. they are taking in $120 million a year but paying out $126 million a year. that has got to change. the mayor is moving to file chapter nine. this is a problem we are probably going to see across the state of california. and california, bill, isabelle weather state. we don't want to see this frie trend taking hold across the country. bill: catch liz, she anchorrers forbes on fox at 11 eastern

time. this saturday with elizabeth mcdonald. martha: spain is unveiling tough new as territory measures aimed at shaving a giant public deficit. under growing pressure to get their act together from the european union. the gross debt is more than $18,000 per person. take a look at this stunning chart that shows that the u.s. is on track to spend 60% more per person than spain over the next two years. spain could expend their recession to 2014. greg palkot is live in london. what are the austerity measures they are taking and what does it mean for the future of europe? >> reporter: a lot of pain being felt in spain. a slight easing in the reduction government it has had to sign onto very tough as territory measures. a hike in the valued area or

national sales tax from 18 to 21%. cuts in civil servant pay amounting to 7%. and the trimming back of unemployment benefits. they admitted this is going to do nothing for the spanish economy in the near term. gdp growth is expected to slip by 1.7% this year, at best it will be platte next yea flat next year and it's not hitting european markets. they are all down, spanish market down more than 2%, martha. martha: what is the reaction to that. >> reporter: noisy and violence in the streets of madrid wednesday a bit of a war zone. miners upset about cuts. they clashed with police. police responded with rubber bullets into the cloud. there were other austerity.

the prime minister mayor kwroe monte said it looks like a war inside and outside, an economic war. martha: 25% unemployment. thank you very much for that report. bill: going in the wrong direction yet again. a city strapped for money taking drastic action by slashing city worker pay to minimum page. we walk to the mayor of scranton, pennsylvania yesterday here in "america's newsroom" about this controversial plan. today we get the other side from the head of the firefighters union on that. plus there is in. >> i'm going to eliminate every nonessential alex spence i have program i can find. that includes obamacare and i'm going to work to reform and save -- [booing ] martha: he says he knew that might not go over that well but he drew really some cheers and jeers yesterday from the crowd. he addressed some of president obama's most loyal supporters but romney says he was sticking to his message at the naacp.

we will debate the wisdom of that move. bill: keeping our troops safe in ten pages or less. why some in congress say a new pentagon policy is putting lives at risk. >> it's almost like we're fighting with the pentagon. we should not be in this kind of a position. we both should be working hand in glove to make sure that our forces have everything they need. a different kind of communications company by continuing to help you do more and focus on the things that matter to you. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

bill: 14 minutes past the hour. what you're seeing now is louis friez the former director of the f.b.i. he took the lead investigative role at penn state university after the scandal broke with sandusky last november. a 207-page report released by him talks about total disregard for safety on the penn state campus. this is a report that was released about 40 minutes ago

after an 8th month investigation. he was fired by university trustees after the scandal broke with sandusky last november. all of this is streaming live now at foxnews.com if you want to watch that while we're on the air here on "america's newsroom." 14 minutes past. martha: there is a lot of talk this morning about how governor mitt romney did with his speech at the naacp in news ton. the presidential candidate not pulling any punches during this is speech, learn cheers and jeers from one of president obama's most loyal constituent sees. here is a piece of it. >> if i'm president job one for me will be creating jobs. let me say that again. my agenda is not to put in place a series of policies that get me a lot of attention and applause. my policy will be number one create jobs for the american people. i do not have a hidden agenda. [applause]

>> and i submit to you this. if you want a president who will make things better in the african-american community you are looking at him. [applause] >> you take a look. martha: take a look is what mitt romney said there. joined now by brad blakeman former deputy assistant to president george w bush. and ma gale johnson who is the executive getting young voters out to the polls. what did you think when he said, you're looking at him? >> i thought he's a coac ka could you remembea courageous man. he gave kind of like a stump speech. it kind of fell flat to me.

the boos were one thing, talking about obamacare is another. it didn't kind of rise to the occasion. martha: that is such an interesting point. brad, perhaps that's what he did intentionally because he feels like the message for every american is about improving the jobs market, and we can show you some statisticses in a moment but it's been much rofer in the blacrofer in therougher in the black community. >> you can't give one speech to one group and another speech to another group and not be honest with who you are talking about. the president is likely to gain 95, 96% of the afghan vote even though hafrican-american vote even though he doesn't see serve it. if he said he had no time to go

to the african-american convention he won't be president right now. >> i think the president enjoys an incredible relationship with the na acp especially with ben jelles. they talked about crating more opportunities in the economy and education. >> he hasn't delivered for them, that is the point. come on, if the president had an agenda that he could be proud of, why won't he go to the naacp and tick off all these accomplishments. martha: keep talking, i want to put the numbers up while you're saying what you're saying. >> the african-american community is hurting twice of the average american. in the inner cities the unemployment rate is double. the hope he promised and the change never came for them, and in this economy how does the

president look them in the eye and say to them you're better off today than you were four years ago. martha: you want to respond to that? >> as i said the president enjoys an incredible relationship with the naacp and they worked very hard on behalf of the president and the affordable care act and other opportunities that provided healthcare but also created jobs and economic opportunities. the fact that mitt romney went in to promote basically failed economic policy, free market fund today meant t fundamentalism that never reaches the african-american community -- martha: you say he inch joys a good relationship with the naacp, some people are saying that's fine but how does that affect the broader community of african-americans? do they agree with the naacp. what i find fascinating is the relationship between the naacp and unions where it has come in

some inner-city situations in blocking charter schools which have been incredibly successful to help inner-city kids. this is a sound byte from mitt romney. >> today black children h-r 17% of students nationwide, but they are 42% of the students in our worst performing schools. candidates can't have it both ways. talking up education reform while indulging the same groups that are blocking reform. martha: alexis, i'm curious, what do you think about that? >> i think there is a healthy debate within the african-american community on how to move forward on education reform. many of my peers support and are doing a lot of work with charter schools. but a lot of african-americans do not see that as a blanket solution. there's been some healthy disagreement between unions and charter school reformers and whatever, and we see that most

clearly in norc under mayor corey booker. martha: he's been very supportive of that. the public schools are not. >> i don't think it's mon -- the majority are represented well by the naacp and we owe our civil rights to the work that they've done. martha: we'll leave it there. brad blakeman and alexis magill. we're waiting for joe biden's comments at the same place. bill: house voters voting to repeal president obama's healthcare law. we'll talk to a republican congressman. darrell issa is here on that. martha: paper or plastic is a frequent question when you check out at the grocery store, so you

can choose which bag you put your food in.

martha: a ban on bans. how about this. many cities in the state of illinois have banned the plastic bags at the grocery store. the governor is considering a law that would prohibit cities from doing that. it's already passed the legislature, just waiting for his signature now. critics of the bill say that cities have the right to make their own decisions. paper or plastic, or no plastic at all or you're supposed to bring a reusable bag that is always left in the car. bill: it's all too much for a guy like hemmer. martha: never mind. bill: one state considering amending insurance constitution in november making it harder for the government to get its hands-on private land.

douglas ken dies on that story. he's live here in new york. what did you find out, good morning. >> reporter: some in virginia say the government's use of eminent domain is out of control especially when it's used to take land from one business and give it to another. >> they actually -- >> reporter: for 50 years bob wilson has been making radio parts for the federal government. now the local government here in norfolk, virginia wants to take your property away using eminent domain. >> we just feel it's not right that they should be able to take this. it's not morally correct, it's not legally correct. >> reporter: and it's not because no folk needs a new school or park. in fact the city only wants to take bob's factory away so it can be sold to a developer for retail space. the motivation they say is to spur economic development. >> we don't need economic development. we have 100 employees here, they are getting paid good waeupbls, they are able to buy homes.

>> reporter: wilson is supporting a ballot measure that would brie convenient any public takes inks for public enterprise. critics say the law is too broad and will hurt community planning. >> all of this means is there will be higher costs to acquire land. >> reporter: this man says the constitutional amendment will include valuing properties for loss profits, which he says will make necessary public takings more expensive. >> all of these costs are going to drive the cost of government higher, therefore requiring more taxes on all of the citizens in the community. >> reporter: the county governments in virginia say you are going to make everyone in virginia pay for eminent domain with higher taxes. what do you say to that? >> we disagree. we figure the costs will come down. >> reporter: he says if the government is taking less property everyone will be paying less money. that's it from here, bill. back to you. bill: we'll watch that and see whether or not it goes through. thank you, douglas kennedy in new york.

martha. martha: new reaction to a city's decision to slash all city workers' pay down to the minimum wage. the mayor says the only way for the cash-strapped city to pay their bills is to do just that. >> you have to be honest with the people and say this is what your services cost. we have been burden erred with a lot of legacy costs in scranton. we are trying to manage it all, for all the employees of the city and make it work. martha: today we'll get the other side from john judge. he's the president of the scranton firefighters union, one of the groups that is suing the mayor. that's next. bill: also there is a new pentagon policy sparking a war of words in washington. why lawmakers say the new policy is harmful to our national security. details on that only moments away.

martha: some lawmakers are fuming over a new pentagon policy to limit reports to no more than ten pages. it's a move to be more cost effective, but congressman buck mckeon who's a member of the armed services committee has blasted that decision. he calls it, quote, outrageous. >> we have an obligation, constitutional obligation, to provide oversight to make sure that our young men and women and those who are fighting around the world, to protect our interests and those of our allies. and if we can't do our job, we can't do our job if the

department does not give us adequate information so that we can prepare and do the things that we're required to do. martha: so the pentagon issued a statement defending their policy saying that there are exceptions and that the guidance does not in any way seek to restrict information that's provided to congress. bill: as you can imagine, there is new fallout now from the pennsylvania mayor's decision to slash city workers' pay to minimum wage. public worker unions now suing the mayor of scranton, pa, for cutting their money. mayor chris doherty says it's the only way to plug a $17 million hole in the budget, and yesterday we talked to the mayor. today the other side from john judge. now, john judge is the president of the scranton firefighters' union. john judge, good morning to you, and welcome here to "america's newsroom". >> good morning, bill. bill: i know you're not happy with the mayor and his choices, but what other choice does he

have? >> well, he really does have choices, you know? he's, he's been given a budget by council, and he expects us to come to work for $7.25 and do our job, and he needs to do his job. they put certain borrowing and refinancing of debt in their budget, and he was supposed to go execute that as the mayor, and he's failed to do that which is creating this cash flow problem. and it's really not a deficit, it's a cash flow problem. i mean, today i was informed that we have $1.2 million in the account and that he's most likely going to make next week's payroll. so this is just he needs to get out there and do his job at this point. bill: his argument is that the city is almost $17 million in the hole. so he'll take a pay cut, 16.8 on the screen. he'll take a pay cut just like everyone else unless he finds a bank that will loan the city

$16.8 million, his hands are tied. what do you think of that argument? >> yeah, well, that's nice of him to take that $7.25 pay reduction to minimum wage, but he's independently wealthy. that doesn't effect him like it effects me and my membership. we live, you know, day-to-day, paycheck to paycheck, and we have financial obligations to meet. this is going to effect our people more than it's going to effect him. and the argument that the banks won't loan him money, he needs to be out there rather than doing interviews, he needs to be banging on the banks' doors. he's been able to secure funding for the last ten years ooze he's been -- as he's been mayor, and now he's trying to back the council into a corner. you have 400 city workers that are left in the middle. bill: i've heard you in other interviews talk about a battle with this democratic mayor that you believe has been going on for the last part of a decade. here is the argument he made to our program just yesterday. listen here. >> our health care bill is $15

million. the majority of that bill goes to retirees, those are agreements that were made before i became the mayor. and we need to, you know, address and understand those costs. bill: so agreements that were made before he was mayor. can you blame him? >> yeah, yeah, i do kind of blame him. firefighters and police officers put their lives on the line every day. that was manager that the city should have budget -- that was something that the city should have budgeted for for year, and he was a council member before he became mayor. he wants to talk about legacy costs which i find it very ironic. when he came into office, he had a $3.2 million surplus, and now the city's in a lot of debt that he's taken out for pet projects downtown, and, you know, rather than provide the essential services that he's supposed to. so legacy costs, it's ironic, because the city's going to feel the effects of his tenure of mayor for years to come after he leaves. bill: you make an argument, too,

that kids working at ice cream stands in your town are making more money than their dads are making. >> yeah. bill: and that may or may not be the case in your town, but how are you going to get through this? >> my guys are resilient. we know that we -- we trust in what council's doing, we know that they're going to find something hopefully and, hopefully, work with the mayor, and hopefully all this national attention in the spotlight pushes, you know, more cooperation from the mayor to get what needs to be done and to secure the financing so that we can get through the rest of this year. so we're hopeful -- bill: yeah, and it sounds like really this is a battle with you and your members against one guy. why not broaden the argument -- >> it's really -- bill: -- other members of government there, because you believe if the city council and the mayor got together, they could work this out quite easily. is that your solution? >> yeah, i do think they could

work it out, and council has on numerous occasions went to him with different alternatives, and he just doesn't want to take their alternatives into consideration. he's proposing a 78% tax hike, and they want to use alternative revenue sources and lower that tax increase. 78% tax increase on the residents of scranton would be crippling, and every city worker is a taxpayer and lives in the city of scranton, so it's going to be crippling to us as well. so this really -- and that's what it's been painted as, a battle between us and the mayor. this $7.25 an hour is a battle between council and the mayor. he's agreed that, you know, $7 at any $7.25 is not what they're supposed to be paid, he's just using the argument i don't have the money to do it, to pay them, but when i get it, i'm going to make them whole. so we went to court to protect our interests, but essentially he's -- this is a disagreement between council and the mayor, and it's political. bill: all right. we'll see how this turns out

eventually. john judge, thank you. >> thank you very much. thank you. bill: thank you for your time today. martha: fox news alert because this morning louis freeh, the former fbi director, is speaking out on the findings on his extensive report that looked into what happened at penn state during the scandal there with regard to jerry sandusky. and he basically has found a lot of fault with the leadership at penn state, turning a blind eye to the victims in this case. here's a little bit of what he said moments ago. >> our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of sandusky's child victims by the most senior leaders at penn state. the most powerful men at penn state failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who sandusky victimized. mr. spaniard, shut, paterno and

curley, never demonstrated through actions or words any concern for the safety and well being of sandusky's victims until after sandusky's arrest. martha: heartbreaking findings from louis freeh, the former fbi director with regard to jerry sandusky and what he carried out over the course of 14 years. he is now in prison on multiple violations and crimes that were committed, and now these four men have that stain on their careers for having not done what louis freeh believes was there absolute responsibility to protect those young people. it's now streaming on foxnews.com. bill: sad chapter for that school. house lawmakers voting to repeal president obama's health care law, so what now, you wonder? congressman darrell issa voted for the repeal, he is here live to explain in a matter of minutes. martha: and moments ago the prosecution released a new round of evidence against george zimmerman in the trayvon martin shooting. that story, a live report from

florida is straight ahead. back in "america's newsroom" in a moment. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. challenge the need for such heavy measures with olay. regenerist micro-sculpting serum for firmer skin in 5 days. pretty heavy lifting for such a lightweight. [ female announcer ] olay regenerist.

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martha: we've got new reaction this morning to the house's latest vote to repeal president obama's health care law. five democrats crossed party lines this time and voted yes along with all of the republican lawmakers. meanwhile, democratic lawmakers were less than pleased, claiming that the move was purely political. pleasure take a look. >> politics be damned. we came to do a job, we think we, we're very proud of what we did. of course, we're thrilled with the judgment of the court, the decision handed down by the court, and i think the election will be about jobs. this bill creates four million jobs. >> repealing the affordable care act is wrong, it was wrong the first time, it is wrong the 31st time. welcome to groundhog day in the house of representatives! parr march welcome to groundhog day, she says.

daryl ice saw join me now, chairman of the house committee on oversight and government reform. welcome, congressman issa, good to have you back again. >> whale, thanks for coffer -- well, thanks for covering this important issue. martha: you heard the ladies, they're saying enough is enough. it passed, then the supreme court upheld it, you've tried 33 times to overturn it in the house, and as the white house has said, move on! >> well, they didn't say move on when one of those votes was to repeal the 1099 provision. they shouldn't object if we try to repeal the medical device tax, but they would. the fact is that this bill, although constitutional based on our power to tax, was derived -- and that's why we had democrats voting with us -- derived about lying about it being a tax. and the 21 taxes embedded in obamacare including taxes that run up the cost of health care.

people that are employed realize that driving up the cost of health care is not driving up affordability which is ultimately what the american people want. they want able to to afford their health care, not have it break the bank whether they get it or not. martha: were you surprised that five democrats, it's crept a little higher, five democrats voted on your side? >> i'm always surprised there aren't more democrats who either based on the lies that would be in the bill or based on the taxes and the other broken promises aren't voting with us. but former speaker pelosi is pretty tough on people. she'll primary people, she'll hurt people who don't vote with her. but i'm very happy that we had five there and, of course, on holding everything holder in contempt we had 17 democrats who crossed party lines. martha: all right, let's go over to the senate. what do you expect will happen when it heads over there? >> absolutely nothing. martha: yeah.

>> the makeup of the senate is still about not allowing fair votes. if they allowed real votes on many of the subportions of obamacare, it would be gone. every time we send a repeal, it's because it's built on bad assumptions, and if we're going to drive down the cost of health care, increase availability and affordability, we've got to start over with something that attacks the cost. and yesterday in both the morning and the afternoon hearings the one thing the democrats never even tried to fight was the fact that obamacare does nothing to drive down cost, and costs have risen under the time leading into the implementation of obamacare. >> martha: when you look at some of these new polls since the supreme court decision, the number of people who are opposed, of americans who are polled to the health care reform bill has dropped a little bit since that supreme court decision. so do can you feel at all at odds with what the polls in the country are telling us? >> martha, remember that most of the taxes are just kicking in. people are going to start paying next year and the year after

additional taxes. they're going to see the cost of a hip replacement go up because a medical device has an additional tax placed on it. imagine we say we want people to get health care, and then in order to implement it we actually tax the products, making them more expensive. that's what obamacare did. it taxed income producers, it taxed savings, it taxed the devices themselves and, ultimately, it has already led to higher prices. remember, if you can afford health care, you'll get health care. and if our country cannot be competitive and can afford health care, then, in fact, we will all hurt. you know, estimates of over l -- 800,000 jobs being lost directly as a result of implementation, that's how bad it is. martha: some say, well, you know, enough with the repeal, 33 times as a vote in the house. why don't you tell us what you'd like to do, put out a specific proposal of how you would do it. >> well, first of all, i'd like

to strip out this concept of we take 2,000 from the employer if he doesn't provide health care, we take 2,000 from the employee if they can't afford health care. right now government is set to take $4-$5000 from the employer and employee without providing health care. the first thing we would do is eliminate these so-called penalties that became a tax and at least have them applied toward health care. if there's $4,000 to put into health care, why why should we e it and put it into treasury when that could go into a health savings account? martha: congressman issa, thank you. appreciate it. bill: prosecutors in the george zimmerman case have just released a new round of evidence including a first look at what fbi agents have turned up in their investigation. we will give you details on that when we continue in just three minutes. the postal service is critical to our economy, delivering mail, medicine and packages. yet the house is considering a bill to close thousands of offices,

slash service and layoff over 100,000 workers. the postal service is recording financial losses but not for reasons you might think. the problem ? a burden no other agency or company bears. a 2006 law that drains $5 billion a year from post office revenue while the postal service is forced to overpay billions more into federal accounts. house bill 2309 is not the answer.

martha: we have some new information on a search effort after a deadly avalanche. the avalanche roared down mount blanc, four are missing at this hour, and they are being searched for. rescuers, helicopters scouring the mountain for the missing. it is europe's highest peak. bill: we found out from florida only moments ago ha prosecutors in the george zimmerman trial releasing a is second wave of evidence in their case against him. the neighborhood watch volunteer claims self-defense after the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. phil keating's had a look at this, any blockbusters included, phil? >> reporter: hey, bill. no blockbusters so far, but certainly some pieces of interesting evidence including an interview with trayvon martin's cousin who swears that

the person yelling for help on that 911 phone call is his cousin, trayvon martin. this second wave of evidence discovery just dumped on everybody and the media at the top of the hour. it includes an interview with one of zimmerman's former girlfriends. she in court papers had described him as being violent, it also includes his myspace page from several years ago where zimmerman describes how much better his life is having moved from virginia to sanford, florida. quote: i don't miss driving around scared to hit mexicans walking on the side of the street, soft ass wannabe thugs messing with people's cars when they ain't around. those kinds of generalizations led george zimmerman to allegedly profile trayvon martin on february 26th, a stranger walking through his neighborhood in some drizzling rain wearing a hoodie. of course, one gunshot wound killed trayvon martin. speaking of that evidence, they

did also include the evidence, photographs of trayvon martin's hoodie as well as the sweatshirt he was wearing underneath it, clearly with a bloodstain right above his heart. he died almost instantly right there at the scene. bill: this is the first opportunity to see what the fbi has found. >> reporter: yeah, well, the justice department's investigating not anything to do with trayvon martin's murder, but more whether a civil rights violation also took place here involving george zimmerman racially profiling trayvon martin. we're still going over all of this evidence, but it includes an fbi interview with a former friend of george zimmerman at west palm beach who during that time period between the shooting death, the calls for him to be arrested but before he was arrested and turned himself in, he contacted this guy in west palm beach saying he needed to get more guns because, quote, his life was in danger. bill? bill: thank you, phil. phil keating with breaking news

on that. when you get more on that, come on back. phil keating in missouri. martha: some say the best dairy products come from the happiest cows. so these cows, do you see them? you can't tell, but they're very happy because they have no dry, old hay to eat for these folks. a look at one dairy farm where the cattle get treated like they should, folks. >> these are nice and flat. the cows are laying a lot higher and drier. there's a lot less stress. we have a lot of room. they get up nice and easy, they just go forward, back up, and it's a lot less stress. martha: very nice. four course seafood feast, st $14.99. start with soup, salad ancheddar bay biscuits then choose one of 7 entrees plus dessert! four perfect courses, just $14.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently.

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martha: forget the green pasture. these dairy cows rest on water beds and why shouldn't they? the workers at a dairy in oregon, say their cows are a lot happier, the water beds, see how they're prance around, it cuts down on

bacteria. makes the cows hell thinker overall and workers say the stalls are easy to clean. maybe this should be water under here sohat we prance around we're happier and healthier. bill: a happy cow make as happy farmer. martha: "happening now" gets started in just a moment. thanks for being here everybody. see you next time. bill: bye-bye. jon: a fox news alert on a scare in the air as an american airlines plane on route to los angeles lands in miami after taking off from fort lauderdale and reporting mechanical problems. apparently pressurization troubles in that plane. we'll have much more on this breaking story moments from now. first other stories we're watching. jenna: a big bust at a drug smuggling tunnel just like this one. what the dea uncovered. we're live at the breaking news desk desk with that. also a scathing documentary highly critical of the united nations now making news.

it suggests that the u.n. is out of control and not capable of dealing with some of the world's biggest problems. is that fair? the filmmaker joins us live. we just saw joe paterno in the video. the penn state sex abuse scandal has an internal investigation out. who the report blames for a cover-up and the letter joe paterno wrote write before his death. we have it for you, all "happening now." jenna: a whole bunch of different news happening today. we're so glad you're with us, everybody. i'm jenna lee. jon: i'm jon scott. we bring begin with the breaking story we told you about. an american airlines flight made an emergency landing in miami after reporting mechanical problems. the plane had taken off from fort lauderdale airport an hour earlier. it was headed for los angeles when they detected problems and set it back down. joining us right now.